Blower for handling desiccated material



Oct. 1, 1946.

o. c. NORTON BLOWER FOR HANDLING DESICCATED MATERIAL Filed April 30, 1945 IIIIIIIIIIIIIII V A IIAVVENTOIAL I @4; MMZM;

Patented Oct. 1 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE w I, Q 2,403,675 Q I I BLowEa Fort'nANnLnvG n'EsIcoA'rEn Y p MATERIAL I a 4 Orlo'Clair Norton, Erie, Pal v r Application April 30, 1945, seri l No.-591,024

solaims. (01. 3027-37) My present invention relates to blowers and has for its object to provide a combined form-of air pump and blower particularly adapted for handling the distribution of finely divided granular material in a dry state. The invention comprehends the method. of mixing a continuous stream of such material with a corresponding stream of air at their point of introduction to a revolving impeller and s acting upon the combined streams in a centrifugal manner that a compressional effect is produced which will cause said material to travel for a considerable distance through a conduit with the expenditure of minimum power.

1 Another object of my invention is to provide a centrifugal form of blowing apparatus into which grain or similar substances in a dry state may be fed continuously which discharges it into a conduitwith a proportionally seleoted quan tity of air with an initial force suflicient to cause it to travel verticalaand lateral distances in excess of those heretofore reached with an expenditure of power greatly in excess of that which my apparatus requires.

To these and other ends my invention comprises further improvements and arrangement of parts all as will be fully explained in th following specification, the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a centrifugal blower illustrating one adaptation of my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view showing a face view of the impeller, taken on the line Zr-2a: of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters in the several figures indicate similar parts.

My conception which has resulted in a very satisfactory type of blower for handling desiccated material resides in the creation of suitable apparatus for mixing air and granular substances initially and handling this mixture in such a Way that I simultaneously increase the pressure and consequent fluidity thereof up to the moment of its discharge, from a high velocity rotary member, into a conduit leading to the bin or other receptacle located at a remote point.

In carrying out my invention I provide an apparatus comprising a narrow casing I, substantially circular in exterior appearance the inner surface 2 of which is a volute curve leading to a discharge nozzle 3 which marks the point of attachment of a conduit (not shown) which it is to be understood may lead in any direction,

usually vertically and then laterally to the desired point of discharge. Journaled in the casing is a rotary impeller 4. At. the left hand side of casing l is a b racketi-which may form the support for the apparatu's'and carries suitable journal bearings for the impellershaft 6 which is rotated from a suitable sourcie of power and may be drivenby a pulley I.

The bearings shown comprise ball races 8 and 9 which are held in spaced relation by a spring Ill, saidf'parts being". mounted in abox ll.

'Atthe right handside of the casing l is a, tubular inlet l2,'disposed axially of the impeller '4 and opening into the casing. At a point somewhat removed .from the casing the inlet has an opening in, its upperside and extending therefrom and flaring outwardly is a receiving fun nel 13, which forms a restricted discharge spout through: which grain or similar material passes into' the inlet [2. The latter, directly below said spout, has an axially disposed opening for the introduction of air. Itis slightly less in diameter than that of th spout and as a structural feature I surround it with a collar l4.

Attached to the center of the impeller and extending through the inlet [2 and for a distance into the collar I4 is a rotary member l5, shaped hexagonally, or otherwise formed with a plurality of blades, against which material passing from 'the feed spout l3 impinges so that it is broken up or separated and distributed evenly in the air stream which is drawn into the inlet.

The impeller comprises the disc 4 which lies in close proximity to the side of the casing l away from the opening of inlet l2. On its face the disc has a number of ribs forming a series of channels a, b, c, d, e, 1 the arrangement and construction of which are important, and as they are similar a description of one will suifice for all.

In the drawing these channels are shown as being formed between the faces of opposing angle irons riveted to the disc and of such height that the two sides of the impeller have an operating clearance in the casing. The inner ends of the channels lie just within the circumference of the inlet l2, as indicated by the dotted circle in Fig. 2. They do not connect with each other, however, one wall of each, as indicated at l6, serving to separate it from the next channel of the series. I deem this arrangement desirable as it assures the independent action of the channels. It will be noticed that the channels instead of being radially disposed are substantially each one half of a chord of the circular disc 4, said half falling on its trailing side. Another important feature in and a mixture of air and grain at their point of introduction to the impeller which eliminates what I call breakage of the grain; i. e. anyhesitancy of the grain to take up the rotary movement of the impeller and consequently prevents. any tendency to clog the inner ends of its channels. Having avoided this difiicultyI prevent any tendency of the air at the center of the wheel? from tending to separate from the apportioned quantity of grain, hence the pressure caused by the. weight of, the grain as it gathers tangential velocity increases as it moves outwardly in each passage or channel and is discharged therefrom with great velocity with the result that there is a'constant uniformv mixture of air and grain flowing continuously into the delivery pipe or conduit. I have determined in practice that the mixture discharged by the impeller enters the discharge conduit. at a pressure several times that of'the air alone and is, in proportion to, the specific ravity of the mixture and that it does not separate, until entering a. distant bin or is passed through a special separator for venting the air.

I claim;

1. In a blower, the combination with. a casing having a laterally located discharge opening and a. combined inlet for air and granular material opening into its center, of arotary impeller pro- Vided with a plurality of channels extending inwardly from its periphery having their open inner ends located. opposite said inlet and each closed. off from the. channels at its inner ends.

Y rial from the mixing member.

T In a blower, the combination with a narrow volute casing having a central opening for the introduction of air and granular material, of a 1'0- tary impeller journaled in the casing provided with a plurality of separate independent channels opening at their inner ends into the central opening and extending tangentially of the central opening, said channels being tapered toward their outer. extremities.

3. In ablower, the combination with a casing having a lateral discharge passage and provided with a central inlet for the reception of air and granular material, and a rotary device for mixing said elements before their entry into the casing, of a rotary impeller in the casing having independentnon-communicating passages leading tangentially from said inlet to its periphery which are graduated-in width from their inner ends outwardly to their point of discharge.

4'. In a blower, the combination with a volute casing having a lateral discharge opening and a central intake opening, and alaterally extending air and granularmaterial mixing chamber embracing the intake, of a rotary impeller in the casing, a: mixing member rotating with the impeller lying insaidchamber, said impeller having independent non communicating channels located tangentially of the central opening and arranged to receive separately at their inner endsa mixed stream of air and granular mate- 5. Ina blower, the combination wit-h a narrow volute casing having an; intake at one side for a mixtureof air and granular material, of an air impeller journaled in the casing comprising a disc, pairs of spaced ribs on the face of the disc disposed to form channels tapering from points tangential to the casing intake to the periphery of the disc, each of said channels being closed off at its inner end from'the other channels.

ORLO CLAIR NORTON. 

